Local News

EVANSTON – The night skies near the town of Evanston were lit by storms that caused a raging oil fire that followed a lightning strike on a series of oil tanks Friday. The explosion and blaze consumed the site on County Road 1100 N. about a mile east of State Road 245.

SPENCER COUNTY – The Lincoln Boyhood Drama Association’s specialty Indiana license plate is currently on the probationary list with the state of Indiana.

Presently, there are just over 200 registered plates and, to have the state rescind the probationary status, sales must top the 500 mark by Dec. 31 or the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles will no longer offer the plate in 2018.

Sister Mary Emma Jochum has worn her share of hats and habits over the years ... teacher, principal, faith-formation director and even diocesan head of religious education. She and her fellow Sisters of St. Benedict no longer wear the black religious habits that marked their order for hundreds of years. That’s OK. It’s not the wardrobe that has made Sister Mary Emma a saintly spirit over her 77 years. (Her birthday is this week.) It’s her kind spirit.

INDIANAPOLIS – State health officials announced this week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed two cases of Heartland virus infection in Indiana over the last two years. Both patients were residents of southern Indiana and survived their infections.

TELL CITY – A family disturbance landed a Tell City man behind bars on several felony charges after he allegedly threatened a victim and police with a deadly weapon. David R.L. Fisher, 36, was arrested July 2 and charged with pointing a firearm at a person and battery on a public safety official, each Level 5 felonies; and intimidation and resisting law enforcement, both Level 6 felonies.

Tell City’s Venetian Lions are again in top shape, thanks to the skills of local sculptor and stone mason Greg Harris and more than $5,000 raised in local contributions.

Harris worked on the lions over the course of several weeks, stripping off several coats of white paint to expose the original concrete. Cracks were repaired and small sections of concrete that had sloughed off over the decades were replaced.

As Obamacare approaches its fifth sign-up season, policyholders in many parts of the country are facing a marketplace with fewer choices and higher premiums.

A New York Times analysis has found that 45 percent of U.S. counties probably will have either just one insurer or no insurers to choose from. That means some 3 million people in nearly 1,400 counties might have only one carrier and about 35,000 people could have none.